• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2023	Least Concern
2016	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2012	Near Threatened	A2c+3c+4c
2008	Near Threatened	A2c; A3c; A4c
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1994	Lower Risk/Near Threatened
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type	shelf island	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,110,000 km2	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	1,500,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	poor	inferred	-
Generation length	2.7 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	3	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size of this species has not been formally estimated. The abundances of each 'subspecies group' (sensu del Hoyo and Collar 2016) is discussed separately:
The population size of 'Japanese Paradise-flycatcher' T. a. atrocaudata has not been estimated, but is described as fairly common by Chikara (2019), and citizen science data (eBird 2023) reveal it to be widespread and relatively common; see also Bird Breeding Distribution Survey Committee (2021). Similarly, 'Ryukyu Paradise-flycatcher' T. a. illex is described as fairly common by Chikara (2019) and although its population size is likely to be much smaller than T. a. atrocaudata, citizen science data show it to be widespread (eBird 2023). The population of 'Lanyu Paradise-flycatcher' T. a. periophthalmica on Lanyu was estimated as being as high as c. 1,000 breeding pairs by Späth et al. (2018) in only 12 km² of suitable habitat. This taxon also occurs on the Batanes Islands, where descriptions of its abundance as 'common' (Allen 2020), and citizen science data (showing counts of more than 20 individuals on relatively short (<4 km) transects), indicate it is similarly common. Given the Batanes Islands contain almost 70 km² of suitable habitat, the total population size of T. a. periophthalmica alone is likely to be several thousand mature individuals. Consequently, although the total population size is set here to unknown (owing to immense uncertainty regarding the population size of the most numerous taxon (nominate atrocaudata)), there is high confidence that it is moderately large, and exceeds (probably greatly) 10,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Although declines were noted historically (BirdLife International 2001), primarily owing to the loss of habitat in the 19th and 20th centuries in Japan, there is no evidence these are ongoing (Späth et al. 2018). The Japan Bird Atlas indicates an increase in the number of confirmed or likely breeding grid squares from 204 in 1997-2002 to 411 in 2016-2021 (Breeding Bird Distribution Survey Committee 2021), and on Lanyu the population was also interpreted to be increasing in parallel with the increase in habitat extent on the island (Späth et al. 2018). Elsewhere, the trend is effectively unknown, although there is little indication that the species is globally in decline. As such the population is assessed as stable or possibly increasing.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
China (mainland)	extant	native				yes
Hong Kong (China)	extant	native				yes
Indonesia	extant	native			yes	yes
Japan	extant	native		yes		yes
Laos	extant	native				yes
Malaysia	extant	native			yes	yes
Myanmar	extant	native				yes
North Korea	extant	native		yes
Philippines	extant	native	yes	yes	yes	yes
Russia	extant	vagrant
Russia (Asian)	extant	vagrant
Singapore	extant	native			yes	yes
South Korea	extant	native		yes
Taiwan, China	extant	native				yes
Thailand	extant	native				yes
Vietnam	extant	native				yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Japan	Mount Yatsugatake
Japan	Mounts Zao and Funagata
North Korea	Mount Kumgang

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	passage
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	breeding
Forest	Temperate	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 1000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Small-holder farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Japanese Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/japanese-paradise-flycatcher-terpsiphone-atrocaudata on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.